Germany defender Jerome Boateng has claimed that he ‘does not fear’ Mario Balotelli ahead of their match with Italy.

The Mannschaft travel to Milan to face the Azzurri in a friendly match on Friday, but the Bayern Munich centre-back has insisted that he is not scared of the striker who knocked them out of the European Championships last summer.

"He eliminated us at Euro 2012, but that does not mean that I fear him," Kevin-Prince Boateng’s brother told Bild.

"He is one of the best strikers around in Europe. It's very hard to stop him when he's 100 per cent. But that's a nice challenge for our defence and for me personally.

"It's impossible to keep a striker like Balotelli quiet for the full 90 minutes, but it's up to me to make sure he does not make an impact. I want to make things hard for him."